Stalling for Time
by Hajimeilosukna
Summary: Based on my Platinum Nuzlocke, it's more slice of life mingled with mystery and heartache. As such, it's a bit slow in the beginning. Cornelius came to live in Twinleaf Town after he was found at Lake Valor three years ago. Having no memory of his life before this, his friend Arty is still determined they find out. When the offer to leave home comes, the two set seeking the truth
1. Prologue

The two children were walking along the quiet country road as the sunset cast a gold hue over them. The girl seemed a tad concerned as the boy beside her had grown very solemn. He had hardly said a word most of the way home. His eyes slowly drifted to the ground as his steps grew heavy. The girl slowed down as well to match his pace and brushed aside a strand of blond hair as she gazed on ahead at his house. It was such a quaint little place from a distance. White washed walls, a garden, and the little picket fence… It was practically picture perfect. However, she had been there often enough to note its flaws even now. The garden had grown unruly with neglect some ages ago and its small walking path was hidden under weeds and thorns from the nearby rose trees. Colorful specks of over ripened berries that had dropped off on their own littered the ground. A few pinwheels in the front yard playfully danced in the breeze and made a nice distraction. Except, she noted, there was one still lazily trying to twirl with only three blades still intact. The window shutter to the right of the door seemed slightly slanted now that she looked at it. Its hinges had probably weakened like everything else in the place. Shaking herself out of her quiet, judgmental observations, she turned to her companion now lagging behind her as they stopped at the gate.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home." She began softly.

He didn't look at her, but instead wrapped his hands around the top points on the gate and stared at the dark windows. "It's alright. I wasn't expecting they'd be home anyway."

The girl took a moment debating if she should say anything or not on the matter. Instead she gave her friend a bit of a nudge and smiled at him. "You know, the professor wouldn't mind if you stayed with him. It'd be better than being alone out here."

"I work better when it's like this." There was a bit of hesitation before he added, "Besides, you remember what happened last time." The girl pursed her lips as she glanced away. "I'll be fine, I'm used to this. I have a lot of work to catch up on anyway."

The girl gave a nod and went to wrap an arm around him before he moved away. She lowered her hand, and forced a smile as she started to back off. "I guess you know best. But I'll see you next weekend right?"

Again, he hesitated, but managed a wry grin. "I suppose, yes. But I'll meet you at the lab, alright?"

"Alright… I'll see you then." She called as she started to head back down the road. She gave a bit of a final wave to him before turning to trot home.

The boy continued in his heavy tread as he made his way inside, dropped off his backpack near the door, and took off his shoes. The lights remained off as he made his way through shadowed corridors to his room where the sunset's glow passed in through the window. A sudden hush fell over the building, more so than he was used to, and his ears began to prick at the silence. He ignored it though for the moment and made his way over to the desk where the stack of books sat exactly where he had left them. The boy stared at them as if half expecting he could make them disappear under his glare. Instead, each of the four subject titles remained unmoved as their golden lettering glistened back at him. After running a finger down each thick spine, memorizing the familiar engravings, he went to turn on the lamp. He clicked it a second time, and then a third time, each turn more rapidly as he glared at the darkened shade. Frustrated, the boy heaved a sigh and started back for the door when suddenly the entire room darkened. It wasn't because the sun was gone. In fact, the room wasn't dark but had changed from the rosy glow to a stark, sickly green. "What the…. What is this?"

He bolted for the window, more curious than concerned, and glanced over the yard with confusion and wonder. Nothing was moving. The pinwheels had all come to a halt, the grass and trees no longer swayed in the wind, and just barely, he could see where a Starly had stalled in mid-flight from the garden. It was about that point that dread began to set in, as the boy started to look around the room warily. He could hear something. Something faint, something distant, something that he could vaguely make out to be some sort of otherworldly screech.

It came like static, like the lowest of bass notes, and almost like metal sliding against glass. As the noise grew, he placed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. When that didn't work, he pressed his hands harder and lowered his head as he could feel the pressure forming with each wave. Instinctively he began to back away from the window and pressed against the wall by the door. The screech came again like it was screaming _at_ him. Some powerful invisible force calling to him from the beyond. Each time growing louder, fiercer, and stronger with each passing pulse. Rhythmically tolling like a bell as it came and faded and came again.

The sound began to hurt as it seemed to tear through him. The vibrations of from the sheer magnitude of the nightmarish sound driving him numb as he slid down to the floor. The whole house seemed to be filled with this surge as it coursed through him and he curled up where his chin rested on his knees. His hands did nothing to make the enraged cries stop but he couldn't bring himself to remove them for fear of making it worse. The boy couldn't think, couldn't breath as he tried to brace against it. His mind was swimming, body wracked, but he found he couldn't move as the pressure came from all around. Everything in sight started to warp and meld together in the intensifying green light that encompassed the building. The last thing he would remember, the only thing left as the world seemed to disintegrate all around him, was that overpowering scream.


	2. Three Years Later

"…..Gather information and hints from every possible source. New paths will open to you when you help people in need, overcome challenges, and solve mysteries. At times, you will be challenged by others to a battle. At other times, it is the wild creatures who stand in your way. But by overcoming such hurdles, you will gain great power. However, these adventures are not solely about becoming powerful. On your travels, I should hope that you will meet countless people, and, through them, achieve personal growth. This is the most important objective of adventure." The boy knew that voice, that familiar paternal tone, but try as he could he couldn't place a distinct image to it. He could see vague images, a room full of books with indistinguishable titles, the lights and colors of machines. The man, who had his back to him as he led the way, was an older gentleman with a light blue vest and white shirt under it. His short white hair still obscured part of his face as he glanced over his shoulder at his young follower, but kept going. A name, the boy thought as he stared at the back of his head. If only he could place a name….

The vague image turned to him, but the tone continued in its gentle curious droll. "As for myself, I conduct research so that we may learn more about Pokemon. But why don't you tell me a little about yourself? What is your name?"

"My name?"

The figure didn't respond, but just paused as they seemed to have reached their destination. He had begun to turn to him, when a voice called out. "…. Neil…?"

"That's right. It's Cornelius." he answered to the vague image. The man seemed to frown as he began to fade away. "Wait, was that wrong?" The boy tried to reach for the now phantom form. "Don't go, yet, I need to know….!"

"Neil!~" the younger voice came louder that time, causing him to sit up and glance around for the source. No one was there. He yawned and propped his arm on the desk to rest on again when he suddenly heard a thumping from below. Cornelius turned toward the stairs. His bedroom didn't have a door to it really as it was actually the attic of the house. It was still nice to see his friend burst into the space like it was his own. The intruder came to a stop and paused at the bed as he looked around. It took him only a second to turn on his heels to find Cornelius at the computer and brightened up with a grin as he rushed over. "There you are! Did you see the news?"

Cornelius sat up and blinked at him, giving another yawn as he spoke. "News? Arty, what news?"

His friend placed a hand on his shoulder and gently began to shake him awake. "Professor Rowan is finally back! He's only been gone for like four years now. And you know what that means?"

"Professor Rowan….?"

He let his eyes trail over to the television still playing happily. "That concludes our special program, "Let's Ask Prof. Rowan!" Brought to you by Jubilife TV on Nationwide Net! See you next week. Same time, same channel."

That would explain a lot of things about the weird dream he was having before. He slowly turned to look at his computer screen where he had been taking notes. After rereading the text, he looked back up at the boy and shook his head. "Sorry, Arty, I guess I slept through it. "

"Good grief, Neil! How late were you up?!" He moved closer to the television with a dramatic point at the screen just before it went to commercial. "See? Right there. He's only like the biggest news in the whole region right now!"

"That still doesn't mean anything to me if I don't know who that is. Teacher? Researcher? Scientist?" Really it didn't matter to him, but he still motioned for some kind of answer as anything would do at this point.

Arty stood back almost aghast, but then straightened up as he placed his hands on his hips. "Oh yeah, he's been gone since before you showed up, so I guess you wouldn't know anything about him."

Cornelius gave a scoff as he turned back to the computer on his desk. "Well, I'm glad we cleared that up."

The boy ran a hand through his short blond hair as he debated which point he should address first. It was obvious he hit that sore spot once again, but since the subject had come up, it seemed rude to ignore it. "Sorry, I just forget sometimes that you've only been here three years now. Sometimes I can't even imagine what it was like before you came to Twinleaf." His somber mood quickly turned to eagerness again as he gave a bit of a hop and ran to the desk. "But you know how we found you down by the lake? My grandmother says she thinks the legendary that lives at Lake Verity has something to do with what happened to you."

Cornelius gave a bit of an annoyed glance to him before turning in his seat to face him, sarcasm dripping. "You know, I never really thought of that. Except, you know "Pokemon of Emotion" wouldn't have anything to do with my memory loss, now would it?" Honestly, he half expected Arty to deflate as usual and drop the subject, but instead all he did was grin even bigger. "…. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking…." He paused for a bit of effect, holding out the last syllable before giving a playful slap to his friend's shoulder, "We should go visit Rowan!" Arty shouted as his arms shot into the air above his head. He lowered them after a moment but had started to bounce in place now that the excitement had won him over. "Just hear me out, okay? It's brilliant." Cornelius stared back at him in expressionless wonder, but leaned back in his seat to show he was listening. "So Professor Rowan is like THE Pokemon Professor for the Sinnoh region. Teacher, researcher, scientist, he does all of those things someone like you seems to love. AND he's been particularly interested in the mythological Pokemon for years. I have no idea what he went to Kanto for, but if anyone would know how to help you, he'd be your guy!"

The boy blinked at him for a moment before shifting his chair again to look at his computer. His voice taking on a bored and pragmatic air as he tried to find his place on the page he was last reading. "If he's such an important man, I don't think we should be bothering him. I'm sure he has people asking him for stuff all the time."

"Whaaaat? That's the whole point! He wouldn't mind a couple of curious, helpful, dashing young men coming by to ask him about serious grown-up matters!" Arty about jumped at the sudden cold shoulder and scurried around to the front where placed both hands on the desk, drumming his fingers as he stared at his companion. Cornelius just stared back as the tension hung heavily as he patiently waited for the next explosion of begging. The quiet hung in the air for what felt like ages, the two staring each other down with almost unflinching determination before Arty suddenly slapped the wood paneling with both hands. Cornelius still didn't flinch, but let a bit of smirk in thinking he'd won. "Oh come on! Just go with me!"

Cornelius used his foot to make the chair sway as he relaxed an arm over the back of it. "I don't see what the big deal is here. I'm starting to think you want to know what happened more than I do."

Arty still seemed pleased he got him to react at all. So long as the conversation wasn't dropped, he still had some sway in all this. "I'm your best friend, of course I do." He gently pushed off the desk and trailed off to the open space of the center of the room. "And honestly, I'm trying to figure out why you don't. I just kinda figured you'd be the first person to jump at an opportunity like this."

"As if anyone could be first at anything with you around." Cornelius gave a bit of a wry grin as he watched Arty pause and seem to debate whether to retort or not. Growing more serious, he straightened up and turned the chair where he was facing his friend directly. "But, let's be real here. It sounds like you've found some astounding amount of faith in some celebrity; and your entire logic for going is rooted on a hunch that he'd even have answers to give for all our trouble. That logic is dangerous and irrational."

Arty wriggled his nose at him and gave a bit of a huff. But, he crossed his arms mocking his friend's position and mimicked his stern and quiet tone with a teasing bit of dramatics. "Your philosophogies are meaningless when you know I will go whether you do or not." He dropped his arms as his usual casual air returned. "I'll bring the guy here if you're gonna be that stubborn. Or is it 'cause you're scared? Either way, you'll never gain anything if never take the risk." He gave a bit of wide grin as he rested his arms behind his head and started to sway in place as he waited for a response. The silence to follow hung in the air as Cornelius sat thoughtful in the chair with no comeback. "Grab your stuff. I'll be waiting outside." Arty turned and headed for the stairs without another thought, dropping his arms as he gave a bit of a skip with each step as he left.

Cornelius seemed to have finally come up with a proper response, calling after him, "Yeah, and I gain a lot less scars too!" in annoyance. When Arty disappeared though, the boy remained seated for a moment staring at the empty space thinking it over. He turned to the computer, then to the television, then back to the stairs as if still not sure what he wanted to tackle first. He began drumming his fingers on the armrest and finally gave it a bit of a pound as he stood up. He began to mutter to himself in agitation, less for Arty than at himself. "Can't believe I'm doing this." He went about the room taking care of all those minor things that he just couldn't leave, saving his document, turning off the television, zipping up all the pockets on his backpack before he slung it over his shoulder. A last glance around to room to make sure he took care of everything and turned off the light. A shuddered breath as he paused at the edge of the room, and began to hurry downstairs.


	3. Fateful Encounters

As soon as Cornelius stepped into the living room, he spotted a confused figure staring at the door. He crept up on the woman, slowly wondering what had left her so confused, but she turned around before he spoke up and almost startled him. "Oh, Neil! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come down. Are you and Arty okay? I heard you two upstairs but then he went flying out the door without a word. I know how impatient he is, but you two haven't been fighting, have you?"

The boy just sighed and started to shake his head. Although she wasn't exactly wrong about their previous bickering, he didn't think it was of anything to mention since nothing came of it. "It's just Arty being Arty. Off to fulfill another "brilliant" plan he wants me to help with."

"Well, he took off before I could ask him about it. As long as you two stay together, I suppose there's no harm. And where, exactly, are you going?" As much as she was trying to sound firm, her voice couldn't shake its worried air.

Cornelius went quiet for a moment as he started to go blank on what to tell her. Eventually he gave a bit of a wry grin as he shrugged it off and managed to walk passed her. "I don't know, Miss Johanna. I thought I'd just follow Arty to make sure he didn't get hurt."

Johanna let out an exasperated sigh as she shook her head at the ceiling. "I wonder how his mother puts up with all this." Staring at the back of his head, intensely as if she could somehow read what was going on in there, she finally decided to give up and finally shrugged it off. "I'm sure I wouldn't worry so much about you two going out all the time if either of you had a Pokemon to protect you, but…"

Cornelius didn't look at her as he continued to get ready. "I know. But I know better than to go wandering into the tall grass. He's the one you should worry about." After tying his shoes, he stood up to find she had come over to the door with his coat. He softened a bit, almost feeling guilty for lying to her as she remained completely unaware of what danger she may be sending him off to.

The woman helped him adjust his scarf before taking a glance out the window at the melting snow. "I guess so. Take care, honey. I'll see you for dinner, right?"

The boy paused as he stood in the doorway, his free hand pressed against the frame. He glanced back at her over his shoulder and answered, completely dead serious in his expression, "If not, you might want to send a search party."

With the door shut, Johanna stood nearly as stunned as she was when he first came in. She never could quite tell when he was joking, as he always seemed to so serious about these things. Still, she decided to trust him and moved over to the couch with a heavy sigh.

Cornelius stood on the other side, still uneasy about going, but there was no sign of Arty on his front lawn. He began to slowly step down the cleared path toward what was pretty much the only real road in Twinleaf and gazed about the town. It was quiet this morning, lights on in only a few houses, and shoe prints in the freshly fallen snow showed there had been some activity at some point that day, but currently the chilly little town remained empty. It was possible that Arty had decided to go back to his house and grab some things, but as Cornelius made his way down the road he could see a figure dashing toward the edge of town.

A few moments later, a woman came out of Arty's house shouting after the figure as she waved a coat at him. "How many times do I have to tell you?! You're going to catch your death of cold!" Whether or not the blond blur heard her or not was hard to tell as he didn't offer even a glance back. The woman tensed up as she let down her arm and tightened her grip on the cloth. "Ooooooh, that boy, I swear, one of these days I'm gonna-"

"Good morning, Mrs. Jules."

The woman gave a bit of a jump as she clutch the jacket close to her and turned around. "For Creator's sake, Cornelius! Didn't anyone tell you not to go sneaking up on people?"

"Several times, I'm sure." Cornelius blinked at her and looked at the ground a moment. He didn't think he had snuck up on her. "I'm guessing I just missed Arty?"

"Oh, you know him. He's probably halfway to the lake by now and won't realize he forgot anything until he gets there." She gave a sigh and eased up a bit. "I'm sorry, dear, I don't mean to snap at you. If you're going after him though, would you make sure to take this to him?"

Cornelius agreed and gently took the coat from her grasp as he promised her he would. She thanked him, and started on inside. As he turned back toward the road he couldn't help but overhear her muttering in wonderment as to what exactly they do out there at the lake all the time. A part of him wanted to tell her, but it didn't much matter now anyway. More importantly, he began to jog down the cleared path until he reached where it disappeared into the snow. A set of footprints lead the way, but Arty wasn't hard to find. A lone figure dancing in place near the sign post as it seemed he remembered his scarf and his bag, but an actual coat had been out of the question in his rush out of town.

Arty was blowing on his hands when Cornelius came up, and practically leapt for joy. "THERE YOU ARE! Jeez, you take any longer, I might just turn into a popsicle!"

Cornelius didn't respond, but instead shoved the burnt orange coat into his friend's freezing hands. "I stopped to talk to your mom." Arty stopped his bouncing as he blinked at him, then gave a nervous laugh as he took it from him. As he went about getting his coat on, not bothering to zip it up, Cornelius strolled up to where the tall grass started. The grass had grown up to his waist, during Twinleaf's usual winter neglect. The field still had several visible trails going into it where many had trudged their way through, but there was no clear or distinct path otherwise. "So now that we're here, how to plan to get through there?"

Arty walked up next to him and stared at the obstacle, listening intently to the soft rustling of wildlife hidden in its shelter. "…. Sandgem is just the next town over. It's only a mile or so, I think."

"You think?" Cornelius turned to him and waited for some explanation.

Arty gave a shiver, but still continued gazing over the field. "I've never been there unaccompanied before, I never really measured it." After a moment he perked up and started to head back down the path only this time as if he were going to Lake Verity.

Cornelius trotted after him. "And your plan is….?"

"Trust me on this, its' brilliant." His friend rolled his eyes. but waited for him to finish. Arty turned around and continued to explain as he strolled backward, having the path to the lake long since memorized. "Now, I know what you're thinking. 'But Arty, it's dangerous to go through the tall grass! We could be killed!' or something, right? So we won't go through the grass, we'll just go around it."

Cornelius slowed his pace as he tried to figure out how that worked, but began to run to catch up. "Arty, you realize there's more to the road than that one patch of grass, right? This whole area is woodland, there's no way you can plan to go the entire two miles without running into something."

"Won't know until we try." He stopped beside one of the many trees growing along the ledge, tall enough to overshadow the small cliffs that ran along the road. Circling it first, then giving a shout, he seemed pleased to find there was nothing to be found here. With a definitive nod to his friend, he leapt up to where he caught the first branch and started climbing. Once Arty made it onto the road, he gave a holler for Cornelius to follow suit and guided him on where to step in climbing.

The pair had been up here before, really only the one time, and even then it was just to see what was up there. Before, they didn't really follow the road. Once they could see where the tall grass started they had decided to try to slide down the cliff just to make sure they could without having to go back around. Today was different though, as today they had a destination. It didn't change how eerily quiet it was out though. The two couldn't see the road through thin layer of snow, and remained quiet as they carefully made their way down the untouched path. No grass grew up here, so they would be fine, it was almost fascinating to view the town as they made their way away from it into uncharted territory.

"You know…." Cornelius began as he settled into the idea they were safe up here, "You would think the more logical thing would be if they left the forest untouched up here, and then cleared a road down there. We'd probably get more visitors that way."

Arty rested his hands behind his head, warming them as they slightly tucked into his collar, and thought about this. "Yeah, actually it would. Kind of makes you wonder who designed this route anyway." Neil was about to make one of usual, half-amused comments, when Arty suddenly stopped in his tracks and swung out an arm to stop his friend from walking any more either. "Hey, you see that?"

Cornelius glanced down at the hand on his chest then at his companion to follow his stare. It was something below on the main road for certain but, looking over the snow covered fields, he didn't see anything. "See what?"

The pair moved closer to the edge of the cliff to get a better look as the target was still quite some distance away. It was large, brown, and stood at least a foot over the grass. After watching a bit more it turned out to be a man in a long and heavy coat that dragged behind him on the surrounding brush. As the boys crept closer in trying to see if it was anyone they knew, they could also make out that there was also a girl following this first figure some several steps behind him. At least Cornelius assumed it was a girl by the light pink he could see occasionally flash in the clear patches they passed through before sinking into the grass again. An odd pair, for sure. Cornelius half wondered if the two were traveling together at all. "People, Arty. Do you think they're wild? Should we try to catch them?"

Arty wasn't laughing, in fact, he didn't even seem to hear the comment. "I think that's our guy."

"What?"

"It's him. I'm pretty sure that's him." Arty cupped his hands to his mouth as the pair began to pass under them. "Professor! Is that you?" Cornelius just covered his face and put some space between him and his friend. Arty didn't care; he was beaming as he watched the startled old man pause and look up at him. The professor gave a friendly wave to the boy and continued on his way. "Told ya it was him."

"Congratulations, you got his attention. Now what? If he's heading toward Twinleaf, we should head back that way too." Cornelius didn't want to say it out loud, but he was still pretty sure they shouldn't be doing this either way. More than likely, if the man did research the legendary Pokemon, he was probably in the middle of work right now.

"I don't know about a mile, but I KNOW I can make that."

"What? ARTY, WAIT!" Cornelius was jerked out of his thoughts as he looked up at Arty in time to see him jump over the edge of the cliff and skid down the slope. Running up to the edge where he was, the boy madly started glancing around the edge for a way down to go after him. Instead, he started running back the way they came to see where they were. "Arty! What are you doing?!" The better question to ask himself was what was he doing? Before he really thought about it, he'd already armed himself with a good sized stick and sliding down the slope after him with the branch dragging along the ledge to steady himself.

Arty had slid hard into the grass and tumbled into it as he landed. A great cry surrounded him as a small family of Starly suddenly took flight from all around him. Screeches sounding the alert of the intruder as he braced himself against a flurry of falling feathers. At first the boy started to smile at that, watching them fly away, when suddenly he heard a loud shuffling, crunching sound from above. Arty gave a bit of a yelp as he tried to move out of the way before Cornelius slid down almost on top of him.

"Have you completely lost it?" Cornelius dropped the large stick beside him as he grabbed Arty by the arm and pulled him up. "You're going to get us both killed!"

Arty brushed himself off, giving a slight laugh at the statement. "Us? No one told you to come down here, Neil." His smirk faded as his friend continued to glare daggers at him. "What?" Cornelius didn't change his stance. "Don't get all huffy with me. You got no excuse. Now come on, we gotta get out of here." He waited for Cornelius to reclaim his stick and scanned the field ahead to see where the other pair had gone. At the very least, if he could find them, he could figure out which direction home was. His ears pricked at the calm, little rustlings from nearby as birds could be heard calling to each other…. The Starly.

Cornelius heard them too, and tightened his grip on the stick as he stared up at them. They were coming closer, a small gray mass of flapping angry noise as it seemed the few that took off had brought company. "… And that's exactly why. RUN!" It didn't matter which way. The uneven ground, the grass trying to ensnare their shoes as they fled. It only seemed to take a few moments before the faster members of the flock were upon them, swooping and screaming as they missed.

There was no question that Arty was the faster of the two of them, glancing back constantly to make sure Cornelius was still behind him. However, the growing gap between them only lasted until, during one moment of turning away, Arty felt something hit him hard in the shin, causing him to collapse into the dry, dead brush. The blond started to push himself up when he saw near his feet what had tripped him. A Bidoof had turned on him, kicking up dust with its back feet, and gave a harsh Growl. Cornelius hurried over to him, and offered him a hand up. "Watch your step!"

Cornelius spun where he stood to look down and saw the bitter Bidoof as it Growled again at the newcomer. He then gazed up at the Starly as they approached and raised the end of his makeshift staff. "GET BACK!"

"SHOCK WAVE!"

In that instant, there was a flash. A harsh crackling from nearby before lightning struck down at the horde. A wave of energy that seemed to hit everything all at once in blinding white light as Cornelius braced against it and shielded his eyes. His lips burned in the chilled air as he was practically panting in a long stream of mist. When he opened his eyes he saw several clumps of grass now weighted with the fallen Starly, and terrified cries filled the air as those left alive were fleeing. He immediately looked down at Arty only to see his companion gasping from the fright they just had before subtly kicking away the Bidoof back into the tall grass.

"Are you alright!?"

The pair had been so caught up by what was before them, neither one had looked back yet. The voice caught Arty's attention as he tried to settle his breathing and scurried to his feet. The man in the long brown coat had come up behind them, seeming out of breath himself now. Beside him stood, almost hovering, a large metal creature all reds and blues and spikes. Arty had never seen such a thing, but it looked fierce. Still at a loss for words, he began to nod rapidly to say he was fine. Cornelius had remained frozen in place and kept his back to the man. That voice came familiar to him, like something out a dream; and even with the danger gone, his heart continued to pound in his chest.

"And you?" The gruff voice asked.

"I'm fine…. Sir…." He didn't look to see the man's expression, but he could almost sense the ease in his stance as the grass softly rustled. "And… thank you…"

"Good. That's very good to know." Rowan placed a hand on the Probopass and started to rub the smooth surface near its eyes. "Good job, Polaire, return." The Pokemon seemed pleased as he was engulfed in a deep red light and was absorbed back into his Poke Ball. The man had turned his attention to the two boys. "Now that all that is settled, I must ask: Why did you run? You know that running is only going to provoke a wild Pokemon even further. Why did you not defend yourselves?"

"We were trying to…. Sir…" Cornelius' voice came soft, almost inaudible, but he managed this time to address the man directly and show him the stick he had carried.

Rowan glanced at the stick, then to Arty who had nothing, then back to Cornelius as his expression changed from highly worried to mildly annoyed. "Then I would hazard to guess you don't have a single Pokemon between the two of you. Hm?"

Arty gave a slight cough into his fist and glanced away from the man's stern gaze. "That would be correct, sir."

The man just closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. It was obvious he still had a lot to say to them, but was debating how exactly to say it. "Let's not discuss it here then. Follow me; and stay close." Without a word from them, he turned and began to continue down the road toward Twinleaf as he had initially. Rowan took Cornelius' stick from him and used it to clear the path before them as the two boys followed in ashamed silence. "Foolish, reckless children." he muttered to himself before speaking up. "I assume there's no reasonable explanation, but I would still like to know. I just saw you safely on the high road, so I must ask: Why did you willingly go charging into brush when you have no way to protect yourselves?"

Arty glanced at Cornelius first, but the boy seemed to be utterly lost in his own thoughts at the moment. He was the one to get them into this mess, so it only seemed fair he be the one to answer. "Mostly because there's no easy way to get down at the end of the road there." The professor seemed confused by the statement and turned to scan the steadily rising cliff as they continued walking. Arty took his slight change of pace as maybe he had found a way to get the guy to ease up on them. "And you see, we worried we might miss you all together if we went back that way. I thought maybe I could catch you before we got ambushed, but…. I guess I just made it worse."

Rowan shifted his gaze from the cliff to where his assistant stood waiting for him in the snow of the crossroads where he left her. He gave a bit of a huff at the understatement, but his tone had grown more curious than annoyed. "Ah, so you saw me on the road and intended to make me your escort home?"

"No, no! Not at all!" Well, a bit, if he was honest. "It's just that the whole reason we even came out here was because we were trying to reach Sandgem Town to reach you! Normally we're actually real good about staying close to town, but I had no idea how to contact you." As he couldn't tell what the man's expression was, and unsure if he was making any impact, Arty darted around to where he was in front of Rowan. The man stopped as his expression darkened, but he eased up to show he was listening. "It's true, I promise. See, my friend, Neil, here has a big, big problem. We've been trying to figure it out for a few years now, but we thought that maybe you can help."

Arty was really pushing his limits, but Rowan turned to Cornelius with a stern and thoughtful air. "If it's such a big problem, then why doesn't he explain?"

Cornelius had been lagging behind the pair and only now noticed they had stopped. He knew he was being addressed, but he couldn't help but freeze as he stared up at the man. The setting was different, his clothes were different, his tone was different, but the boy had been struck by the sudden feeling of familiarity to all this. He remained dumbstruck.

Rowan awaited a response, thinking at first he had caught the pair in their own story and gave a bit of a smirk. "Your name is Neil, correct?"

_"What is your name?"_

_"Cornelius."_

It seemed silly to have such a vague dream like phrase come to mind, but boy's mind had begun to race.

_"Was that wrong?" _

He gave himself a subtle shake as he pulled himself out of the dream. "I…. I don't know…." The man's expression turned to confusion as he wasn't sure what to make of the response. Cornelius realized how stupid that actually sounded and quickly tried to explain himself. "I mean, it is. Kind of. Just…. Let me start over. The problem is, I don't know what my real name is, and I don't remember anything before the people in Twinleaf found me at the lake. Cornelius is the name I was given. Arty just calls me Neil for short, but he has the attention span of a Volbeat."

"Hey…."

Ignoring his friend, Cornelius just decided to try get it all out. He couldn't read the look Rowan was giving him, and he knew he sounded insane, but he just had to finish. "That's why we were trying to find you, Arty thought you might be able to help me. The people in town all think that since I was found at Lake Verity, that something may have happened with the Lake Guardian. I don't….. I don't expect you to fix anything, but we thought since you've been studying the lakes that you might have an answer…." There, he said it. It still seemed utterly ludicrous when said out loud, but at least he had said it.

Rowan didn't say a word. His expression impossible to read as he stared at the boy as if a weight had been dropped. Cornelius stared back at him, his steel-grey eyes searching for any sign of understanding. Arty shifted uncomfortably before coming up beside them to break the tension. "Yeah, so it's really my fault we're out here. If you're gonna be mad, don't be mad at Neil. He's been trying to stop me since I brought it up."

Whatever had fallen between them, it seemed the distraction had worked. Rowan gave a slight hum of still thinking all this over, and turned to continue to the end of the field.

The girl looked around the group as the professor approached her. "Is everything alright?"

Rowan kept his voice low as he glanced back at the boys treading lightly in the path he already established. Arty seemed relieved to be back on safe ground, and rather playfully started to tell his friend of the emotional rollercoaster all this had been for him. "Everything is fine now, Dawn, but…. I'm at a loss for what to do."

Dawn had been watching the boys for some time now, unsure what to think of them or the whole affair she had witnessed from afar. Glancing up at Rowan's statement, however, left her more confused than ever. "With them? If they're from Twinleaf, I think we could safely just leave them here. There's no danger between the crossroads and the town."

"It could be as simple as that. But, I am also wondering if I should do something reckless myself." He crossed his hands over the end of the stick and rested it on the ground as if it were a cane. He turned back to look at the cliff now looming over the treetops as the boys had explained to him and then back at them. Arty was holding his arm where Cornelius had just hit him. "… Very, very reckless."

The girl grew slightly alarmed as she tightened her grip on the briefcase he had left with her. "You're not going to punish them, are you?"

Rowan gave a short laugh, the question catching him off guard. It was a legitimate question, but despite what most people thought, he would never resort to such things without real provocation. "On the contrary, I'm thinking of inviting them to the lab."

Her alarm turned to a slight disgust, "But… WHY?"

"I can't explain at the moment. Just a feeling I have. There is also a situation I have been asked to address, which I will explain to you later. In the meantime, may I see my briefcase?" The girl eased up in her defense, but still eyed him with a curious and suspicious gaze as she handed it over. He called over to the pair putting an end to the earful Cornelius was giving his companion. "Boys? Would you come here a second? There's something I want to talk to you about."

After a wary glance at each other, they walked over, Arty still in a bit of a huff as he rubbed his arm again, and stopped. He tried to give a smile as he swung his arms behind his back. "Yes, sir?"

"I have work to do today, but I was wondering if you two would like to come by my lab in Sandgem tomorrow so we might discuss the matter further? It would give me some time to look over some things and perhaps even have some answers for you then." He held up a hand to quiet them before either had the chance to ask. "Now," he began as he held up the briefcase lying flat on his opened hand. "As I'm not sure what your family situations are in regards to getting an escort, I'm going to let each of you borrow one my pokemon so that you may be able to come on your own."

Arty's face lit up with excitement as he clenched his fist. "Really, sir? That's super generous of you. You don't know how much this-"

"BORROWED, Arty." Cornelius placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to stop him from bouncing in place. "You'll have to give it back."

Rowan just shook his head. "And it isn't one of my personal pokemon, if that's what you're thinking."

Arty knew he couldn't keep whatever it was, but he had been slightly hopeful to take that Probopass out for a test drive. "But then…."

Dawn just rolled her eyes as she could guess what the boy may have been thinking. "The professor's pokemon are super high ranked. Without any badges, you'd be in just as much danger as if you didn't have a pokemon at all."

Cornelius wondered how exactly that worked, but decided he should ask at a more appropriate time. The professor gave a nod to the girl and placed his other hand on top of the briefcase. "That is why I'm giving you these. In here I have two pokemon, you may each have one."

He opened the briefcase to reveal quite a few papers, but there were two perfectly normal Poke Balls that rolled slightly with the abrupt motion. There wasn't anything to tell them apart besides they each had a sticker on them, one with a water drop symbol, and the other with a leaf symbol. After some silent debate exchanged in a few glances, Arty reached in first to grab the one with the leaf. Cornelius just nodded and stepped back. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Cornelius stated, "I just thought if we travel together then we really only need to take one."

"That would make sense if you could guarantee you could let him do all of the fighting. But, as I explained to my assistant here when she got hers, that will not always be the case." Rowan took out the second Pokeball and shut the briefcase, passing it casually to Dawn standing beside him. "Even if Sandgem isn't far away, it would it best if you took it."

"Considering my situation, professor, I don't think giving me one is a very good idea. I've never really seen a wild pokemon before today outside of a screen and you can't expect me to take care of something I don't understand. How can I care for something I know nothing about?" He was very blunt in his tone, coming off almost hollow as held his arms behind his back.

Dawn may have been sharp with the pair before, and even if she didn't understand the whole situation, the comment alone had left her bristling. "With that kind of thinking, how do you expect to learn anything? If you only care about things you already understand, how do you ever deal with people who think differently than you?"

Arty walked over and slapped a hand on Cornelius' back with a hearty laugh as if it were some kind of joke. "That's why we're here!~ Don't worry, it's only temporary like you said. And we'll walk you through it."

Cornelius paused as he stared at the Pokeball still in the man's hand before finally reaching out to take it. He pulled it close, tightening his grip over the smooth surface just to get a feel for it, and still continued to stare at it in uncertainty.

"In the end it needs to be your decision. But I hope that you will at least think about it." The professor let his hands rest in his pockets as he took a step back. The boy only gave a soft nod to him in understanding. "We should get going before it gets too late."

Dawn agreed and the pair said their partings before heading down the road toward Lake Verity. The two boys left behind remained at the crossroads as Arty called a last note of thanks after them. He then turned to his friend, resting his hands behind his head and sighed. "You know, for how dead we're gonna be when we get home, I think that went well."

"Yeah…." Cornelius was still staring down the road, his mind swimming as he hadn't really moved since taking the Pokeball.

Arty let his arms drop and stared at him puzzling. No witty comeback? No glare of death having put them through all this? He gave the boy a slight shove to see if he'd even notice. "Hey, you gonna be okay?"

"I don't know. It's just..." he let out a shuddered breath as he started to shake his head. "I don't know. I think I still don't think anything from today is actually happening."

Arty just started to chuckle and went on ahead. The road for home was still marked with their shoeprints from before. "Well, after nearly getting killed back there, you're probably still in shock. I think maybe if we go home and rest up for a bit, you'll start to warm up again. Maybe later we can go by the lake, clear your head, I'll teach you how to fight-"

"It's cold, Arty. I think… I'd rather stay in for the night." As he stepped by him, Arty seemed confused, concerned even, and started to trot to catch up. "We'll go tomorrow, or something, alright?"

"But tomorrow we're going to meet up with the professor again. You…" He slowed to a stop as he watched Cornelius start to hesitate as well. "You're coming with me, right?"

The boy didn't turn to him, but kept going; even if at a much slower pace. Finally, he turned to face him and started to give an awkward shrug. "…. The professor told me to think about it. So that's what I'm going to do. I'll see you tomorrow."

Arty didn't answer him, but offered a bit of a wave. "I'm still sorry for today! But… Thanks."

Cornelius had no idea why he should be thanked for any of this, but he waved it off and went inside.


End file.
